“I’m sorry?” He looked up to see her staring at him.
“You’re looking at the cover on my book. I put paper on it like that because I feel what I am reading is private.”
She smiled, and he lowered his head trying to see her face. “What?” he asked.
“I like to think people are looking at me and wondering: Now, what is she reading? And that each person comes up with their own unique answer. Oh, she’s probably reading Plato, or Dante, or…”
He smiled at her as a warm, familiar feeling came over him.
“I know, they’re all probably thinking: Oh, she’s reading some trashy romance novel and she doesn’t want everyone in the room to know which one.” She laughed and closed her book.
“Can I try?”
She met his gaze and grinned at him. “Sure, why not. I guess it can’t be all that bad.”
He stared, tapping his finger upon his protruding lips. “I’d say you’re reading — ” he paused, his eyes moving down her face to her lips “ — The Illiad.”
The smile left Annie’s face, and she quickly turned the book looking at the cover.
Derrick laughed and taking another sip of his coffee, he watched her holding her book out before her, staring at it. Leaning across the table and looking both ways, he lowered his voice. “But you secretly want people to think you are reading a trashy romance novel.”
Annie sat back in her chair, her face devoid of any expression. “Okay, now you’re just creeping me out.”
Holding up his hands in front of him, he grinned. “Hey, what can I say, I’m psychic.” She stared, and he laughed. “I’m kidding. I saw what you were reading when I walked by outside.” He hoped he sounded convincing, and by her expression he appeared to have been.
She looked at her watch and slid her chair back from the table. “Well just let me say it was nice to meet you, Mr. Sloane.”
“Derrick, please.”
“It was nice to meet you, Derrick.”
Looking down at his cup, he ran his finger over the rim. “You wouldn’t just happen to be here, oh say, tomorrow about this time. Would you?” She hesitated, and he didn’t dare look up. His eyes fixed upon the coffee in his cup.
“I…could be.”
“Okay. Well if I just happen to drop by, then maybe I’ll see you.”
“Maybe you will.”
She stood, and his gaze followed her as she walked past him to the door. “Oh, and as a friend,” he called after her, “I’d just like to tell you those pants look great on you.”
She laughed, not looking back, and he smiled to himself. He wondered if she would really be there tomorrow, just as she was in the dream. And he cursed himself for not having gotten her number. But then he already knew where she lived. Or did he?
“So?”
Derrick jumped as Brian plunked himself down in the seat where Annie had been sitting. He had forgotten all about Brian waiting in the car, what with everything that had just happened. And who could blame him. What had happened was…well it was impossible. Those things did not happen. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be real. And yet the woman of his dreams had just walked out the door, literally.
“Well? Come on, man. What happened?”
“We’re not in a high school locker room, Brian.”
“I know that.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“Now I know it’s serious! You, defending her honor.”
“I’m not defending…God, Brian, you have this single inclination to…”
“To what?”
“Never mind.”
“No, you’ve got to tell me what happened. When you never came back out, and then I saw you sitting with that woman, and I might say, oh man, she’s — ”
“Don’t!”
Brian laughed. “Just testing.”
“Testing?”
“I was seeing how far you’d let me take if before you stopped me. A kind of measuring stick of how much she means to you.”
“Oh, dear God.” Leaning his head in his hands, Derrick sighed loudly.
“Hey, I’m your best friend. Who else would go to all this trouble to annoy the crap out of you?”
“Yes, I can honestly say the word best comes to mind, no one annoys me more than you do.”
“That’s what I’m here for. And, you’re welcome. So, spill it. What happened?”
Derrick leaned back in his chair. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Well, actually you pretty much already did. So…”
“Yes, that was her. The girl from my dream.”
Brian’s expression became dead serious. “The one you are going to ask to marry you?”
“Now I never said that.”
“Okay, so then what are you planning to do?”
“I hadn’t thought about it.”
“You hadn’t? You meet some girl in a dream that you want to marry, and then bump into her in the real world, and you are telling me you don’t know what you want to do next?”
“Well it’s not exactly as if this kind of thing happens to me every day. To be honest I am still wondering if she’s real.”
“Oh she’s real all right. Both her and those nice, tight jeans.”
“Hey!”
“Just lookin’, just lookin’. You can’t blame a guy for that. And it’s not exactly like she’s hiding it.”
Derrick felt his mouth tighten.
“Whoa! Calm down.”
“Please don’t tell me this is another one of your measuring sticks, Brian, because if it is, I am going to put my fist right through your…”
Brian stared in disbelief. “You’re in love with her.”
Derrick pulled back at his words.
“No, that’s what this is all about. You are already in love with her. Problem is she only just met you, and as far as your brain sees it you’ve already been together, how long did you say?”
Derrick looked down at his coffee. “A few months.”
“A few?”
“Five.”
Brian stared. “Okay, only a friend would tell you this, but…”
Slowly Derrick raised his head and looked at Brian.
Leaning back, Brian held up his hands. “Hey, it’s nothing like that. Honest. All I was going to say was, if you let this opportunity pass you by, then you’re crazy.” He shook his head. “Seriously, Derrick, this is something you don’t want to think about.”
“Think about?”
“You know damn well that when you get to thinking about something, you talk yourself right out of it because you analyze it so much that it passes you by before you’ve had a chance to take advantage of it. Or you start seeing things wrong with it that don’t exist.” He shrugged. “Face it, you’re a world class procrastinator. And every time something looks too good, you convince yourself there’s something wrong with it, whether there is or not.” He grinned at Derrick. “How the hell you’ve managed to become so successful…” He leaned back. “The way you looked just now, with her…I’ve never seen you like that before. You actually looked…happy, for God’s sake!”
“Are you suggesting I am never happy? Because I can tell you right now I have plenty to be happy about.”
“Oh, I’m positive you are plenty satisfied with your success, and your trophies.”
“My trophies?”
“Your stuff. All this stuff. My God, Derrick, you’ve got it all. Take a breath already. Relax.”
“That’s not what this is about and you know it.”
“Okay. Yes, you enjoy the accomplishment, and if along the way you make your dad eat his words, that you’d never amount to anything then, why not. But when I said you actually looked happy, I meant the way you looked at her. I’ve never seen that look on your face before.” Bringing his elbows up on to the table, Brian leaned over, lowering his voice. “Do not let this one pass you by.”
For a moment, Derrick just sat as though taking in all Brian had just said.
“My sympathies to Denise. That she has to put up with you, the woman must be a saint!”
“You can avoid talking about it all you want, but I’m not going away.”
“All right. I’m going to meet her again tomorrow, if you really want to know.”
Brian sat up. “Really?”
The way he said it just reminded Derrick of Curly, of the Three Stooges. “Yes really.”
“So what did she say?”
Derrick took a quick look over his shoulder. “Did I just step into a beauty salon from the fifties or something?”
“If you think you’re going to get out of telling me by digression, then you’ve got another thing coming.”
Derrick sighed. “The only way to get rid of you is to tell you, isn’t it?”
Brian looked up and to the left, his lower lip protruding as if in thought. “Pretty much. Yep.”
“I asked if she would be here tomorrow around this time.”
“And?”
“And that if I happen to drop by then maybe I’ll see her.”
Brian just stared.
“What?”
“That was you asking her out?” He shook his head. “Oh, Derrick, my boy, you have been out of the game too long.”
“Excuse me?”
“That charm can only get you so far. You need to work on your technique and delivery, man. Seriously.” Brian shook his head again.
“This from the man that tried to get Susy Markham to take off her top by putting a frog down the back of her shirt?”
“I was only ten at the time. And if you think about it, for a ten-year-old, pretty ingenious.”
Derrick just looked at his coffee. “She’ll be here.”
“How do you know?”
“You seem to be forgetting something. I had a dream about us being together over five months.”
“And then?”
“And then you called and woke me up.”
“Wait. Are you saying I interrupted your unconscious relationship?”
“Yes. Yes I am.”
“So, wait…are you telling me that what happened here today is what happened in your dream?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean, not exactly?”
“Well, you weren’t here for one.”
“I wasn’t.”
“No, and the conversation was almost identical, but…”
“But?”
“I…asked her about her book.”
“Yeah, and so?”
Derrick shrugged.
“So did you end it the same way you did in your dream?”
“Pretty much.”
“And she showed up the next day?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, she did.”
“Well all right then. If it works for you, then go for it.”
“I wouldn’t use the words, go for it, in reference to Annie.”
“Oh, Annie, is it?”
“Yes, it’s Annie, if you must know.”
“Yes, I must.” Brian grinned. “You’re already planning the wedding in your head as we speak, aren’t you?”
“What? No.”
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
“Oh please, not with the…” Pushing his chair back, Derrick stood. “When you start pulling out Shakespeare…”
“What?”
“That’s when it’s time for me to leave.”
Brian jumped up from the table, following Derrick out onto the street. “You were! Oh wow, man. You are in so much trouble.” He laughed, punching him in the arm.
“Here I am thinking I am getting some kind of weird glimpse into the future, and looking at you…I am getting a painful glimpse into my past.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t take a little ribbing? What are you, a wuss?”
“Ah, flashback. Grade four all over again.” He turned to look at him. “I seem to recall something about you promising not to rib me about this?”
Brian paused. “Oh, yeah. I did, didn’t I?” He shrugged. “That’s what you get from a grade school oath.”
“Is that anything like, your word isn’t worth sh — ”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you fell for it.”
Derrick shook his head. “Like I said, flashback, grade four all over again.”
Brian laughed, and Derrick climbed into the limousine, pulling the door closed behind him. “Very funny.” But when he went to open the door, it was locked, the limousine pulling away from the curb. “Hey!”
The car pulled to a stop, and Derrick rolled down the window. “Maybe next time you won’t be so much of an ass.”
“What? You’re going to leave me here? Seriously?”
“You’re a doctor, you can afford a cab. And seriously, stop saying seriously!” The limousine pulled away, but came to a stop about half a block down the street, the door opening.
“You really had me going there for a second,” Brian said, climbing in.
“Oh, I meant it. You are an ass.”
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
Derrick stepped into the bedroom. “Hey, where are all the books?”
“Books?” Annie seemed truly perplexed by his question, and her gaze followed his.
“The bedside table. It was covered with stacks of books.” She turned back to him, her expression one of wondering. “I would joke about it eclipsing the sun?”
She laughed and patted him on the face. “Honestly, Derrick, you can be so funny sometimes.” She laughed again. “Stacks of books. I haven’t done that since…Now when was that? Hmm, can’t remember, oh a few months at least.” She shrugged, walking from the room.
Derrick stared after her. “Hasn’t done that for a few months? What is she talking about? She’s been doing it since…”
“You still standing there? We’ve got to get ready.”
“Ready?”
“The fundraiser, remember?”
“The fundraiser?”
“Oh please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten, Derrick.”
“No. No, I…I’m just distracted today, for some reason. No, I didn’t forget.” He smiled down at her. “And with you here, can you blame me?”
“You always did know what to say.” She sighed. “And I’ll never get tired of it.” She smiled and kissed him tenderly. “Now put on that new Armani shirt I bought you. You want to look your best tonight.” Running her hand down his chest, she stared up at him adoringly.
“Armani shirt? I thought you…”
She was looking up at him, waiting for him to finish his thought. “You?”
“Never mind.”
“All right. If you say so, just don’t be too long, we don’t want to miss the reception.”
He watched her as she walked into the washroom. Armani? She never buys Armani, he thought to himself.
“Annie, what’s going on?”
“The fundraiser, I told you.”
“No, not that, what’s going on here? The books. You buying Armani shirts?”
She poked her head out the door. “Honestly, Derrick, I have no idea what you are going on about, but if we talk about this much longer we are going to miss the reception.”
“Okay, you’re right.” Stepping into the walk-in closet, Derrick pulled out his cell phone and dialed. “Brian, I need to ask you about Annie.”
There was a long pause. “What…so you’re talking to me now?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Well, last time I tried to call you, you wouldn’t have anything to do with me.”
“I wouldn’t…what?”
“The fight.”
“The fight? What fight? Brian, make sense will you?”
There was another long pause. “And now you’re calling me up like nothing ever happened?”
“Brian, I’m going to ask you a question, and no matter how stupid it sounds…I’ll need you to answer me, please.”
“Please? Well…this does sound interesting. Okay
, what’s the question?”
“When did we have this fight?”
There was an odd sound, somewhere between a laugh and, “are you kidding me?” Brian cleared his throat. “Okay, I’ll bite.” There was a loud sigh. “Let’s see, oh yeah, how could I forget?”
The sarcasm was thick in Brian’s voice, and Derrick found himself wondering what could possibly have happened, or when, for that matter.
“That would be the day after you met Annie.”
“The day after?”
“Yep.”
“What do you remember about the day before?”
“Oh, some nonsense about a dream.”
“A dream?”
“And then you blew me off for Annie.” There was another sigh. “That’s what the fight was about. You, ditching me for some girl. Derrick what is this? What are you asking me all this for? And why am I suddenly good enough to talk to?”
“What the…?”
“Hello, earth to Derrick? I am still on the line, in case you’d forgotten.”
“I uh…um…”
“Derrick?” There was long silence. “Derrick, why did you call?”
“Um, it’s Annie.”
“Has something happened? Is she okay?”
“Yes, I mean no, I mean…”
“What, did you two have a fight?”
“No, we did not have a fight. She’s — ” leaning out the closet door he checked to see she was still in the washroom “ — she’s different.”
“Different? That’s what you called to tell me? You don’t talk to me for five months and you call me up to tell me Annie is different. Okay, now I know you’re losing it.”
“No, she’s…she’s…the books. She always had this huge stack of books on the bedside table. The pile was so big I used to call it Mount Everest. I would tell her it eclipsed the sun, and that I was concerned about it falling over and burying us in our sleep.” Derrick heard laughter coming through the receiver. “Brian? You better tell me you’re not laughing?”
“Of course I’m laughing. That’s hilarious.”
“You think you could stop long enough for me to finish?”
“Okay, okay. All right, go ahead.”
“It’s gone.”
“Okay, now you lost me.”
“The books. They’re gone.”
“So she got rid of them. So what? Maybe she was tired of your little comments about them all the time and just wanted to shut you up.”
The Coffee Shop Page 13
